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Description

In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer.

Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse–trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius “fermentos” (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The reader learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships. Cooking, above all, connects us.

The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume large quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.

Reviews

A must-read for anyone who ever stepped into a kitchen!

5

By mbailley

Once again, Pollan delivers on bringing the reader back to the relationship between humans and the food we eat. Taking us through four fundamental classical elements (fire, water, air, earth) and how they act to transform raw ingredients into foods we take for granted, Pollan gives a new appreciation of how cooking by these methods have shaped our cultures and possibly been our own evolution. By combining his naturally conversational voice with complex scientific concepts, he helps us to better understand cooking and as with any good book, leaves the reader with a call to action and the drive to be a better person.

Too euro-centric

1

By Gimmeabreak2

OK, so Pollan is a true New Yorker. But beyond Kimchee, he completely ignores anything but european food. For example, in the tropics, large leaves from plants were used to wrap food and stick it in the fire millenia before pots were invented. Rice, potatoes, manioc, corn, many sources of carbs and starch are not subjected to fermentation, never require "air". At least he should have looked at how Native Americans cooked, if he really wanted to go back to the roots of food. Isn't he crazy about eating local? There is a history, a long and relevant one, way before the Dutch allegedly "bought" the island of Manhattan for a few coins. It is not just women he mistreats with this book. Every culture escept Europeans are treated with disdain. Maybe he included Korean food because Samsung is beating the heck out of Apple. Apples are after all, Chinese in origin.

Very Sad

1

By Hobj

what a shock - it's the fault of whiny ambitious women that we all are unhealthy and eating poorly. Back to the kitchen girls so you can sacrifice for the good of all. How about we try a new way - all you men quit your jobs and take over all those highly rewarding nurturing jobs and we will see how the world looks in fifty years.